The town of Waycross, Georgia, is graced with tributes to its fallen hero: Army Reservist Sgt. Kennedy Sanders.
“I can’t put it into words how much I miss her,” said Oneida Oliver-Sanders, Kennedy’s mother.
Kennedy was 24 years old and she operated heavy equipment on a U.S. military base in Jordan. In January of 2024, she and two other soldiers were killed in a drone attack. U.S. Army officials say an Iranian-backed militia was responsible.
Weeks after the dignified transfer of Kennedy’s remains, the Army returned six trunks of her personal belongings, from sneakers to a tin can phone. But the family didn’t get back everything they wanted.
“The most important thing for me was receiving her phone,” said Shawn Sanders, Kennedy’s father.
Her cellphone, they figured, was destroyed in the blast.
More than a year after Kennedy’s death, Oneida got a call. Staff Sgt. Zachary Winthers had discovered Kennedy’s phone in a lost and found at the base in Jordan, months after the attack. He told CBS News he took the phone back to the U.S., determined to find its owner. After charging the phone, the emergency contact “Mama Bear” popped up.
“So I messaged her battle buddies and let them know that her phone had been found, and one of her good friends that’s in the group messaged me privately and said, her password is this. He knew her password,” Oneida said.
Just before Mother’s Day this year, Kennedy’s phone arrived, protected by a case with a bear wearing angel wings.
“I remember breaking down, ’cause I knew I was going to get some memories that we had never had an opportunity to see,” Shawn said.
Little by little, the Sanders have been watching Kennedy’s videos and fitting puzzle pieces together — like the origin of the soup-can phone. Kennedy had made it with her good friend, Sgt. Breonna Moffet, just days before they were killed.
“We have an opportunity to have the best moments captured, and we get to relive them. So when I’m down sometimes and when I’m just missing her the most, I can open up the phone and recall that period in time,” Shawn said.
“It was like Kennedy was giving us a gift, literally, like she was coming back to us as a gift,” Oneida said.
Sgt. Kennedy Sanders had always dreamed of seeing the world. Now, her parents can see it — as she did.
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